Vending-machine.



PATENTBD MAY 31, 1904.

J. B. HURD. VENDING MACHINE. APPHOATION Hum we. 31, 1903.

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WITNESSES.

PATENTED MAY 31, 1904. J. B. Emu). VENDING MACHINE. APPLIGATIOH FILEDAUG. 31. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

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; UNITED STATES Patented May 31, 1904.

PATENT 7 OFFICE.

VENDING-MACHINE.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,075, dated May 311904.

Application filed August 31, 1 903.

i To all whom it may concern:

A Be, it known that I, JUDSON B. new a citi zen of the United States,residing at Brookland, inthe District of Columbia, have insales-counterbeing removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the parts in differentpositions. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig.5 is a horizontal sectional view of a part of the sales-counter. Fig. 6is a vertical section on theline 6 6 of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a detailperspective of one of the swinging bottoms carried by the article-holders. Fig. 8 isa perspective view of one of the swinging stops in thesales-counter; Fig. -9, a detail perspective of the shiftinglevercarried by the .bottom shown in Fig. 7; Fig. 10,

a detail perspective of one of the tripping devices in thewrapping-room; Fig. 11, a perspective of the traveling releaser.

This invention is designed to do away with the employment of clerks insales-rooms and for other purposes; and it consists of certain novelfeatures of construction-and combinations of parts and applianceshereinafter described and-claimed.

Referring tothe drawings byrefereiice-let- Qters, A designates'asales-counter located in a sales-room'and connected by conduit B,extending throughfthe wall C to the'store-room or wrapping-room, whereinis locateda suitable counter or casing'DIf I The sales-counter shown isdivided centrally v and longitudinally bya partition E, an'din each ofthe compartments thus formed is mounteda carrier or conveyer consistingof a pair of sprocket-chains which are mounted on suitablesprocket-wheels G and extend through the conduit B into the counter D inthe wrappingroom. Th1s conveyer carrles a series of buckets H, which areadapted to transfer the artiaccompanying drawings, in

\ the side of the counter.

each of these holders Iis normally closed by. .a swinging bottom L,whose side or cheek Serial N6. 171,444. on model.)

I cles from the store-room to the sales-counter and deposit them intheir proper receptacle therein. p

In each of the compartments in the salescounter is mounted a series. ofstationary holders I, just below the path of the outgoing 7 side of thecarrier and just above a corresponding series of chutes or receptaclesJ, built into the counter, each of these chutes or receptacles beingaccessible through an opening K in The open bottom of plates embrace thesides of theholder and are pivoted thereto at M. A spring N connects theupper end of one of the side plates of this bottom to the side of theholder and by'its action tends to normally open the bottom by swingingit up to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The bottom islocked against this tendencyto open by means of a latch-lever O, pivotedto one of the side plates and extend- 7 ing upward abovethe holder farenough to en- 7 gage in a notch P, formed ina flange Q, run- I ninghorizontally along the inner side of the sales-counter and serving tosupport one of the sprocket-chains F. The latch-lever O is nor- Q mallyheld in notch Pby a spring R. When this latch-lever is forced out ofnotch P in the manner hereinafter, set forth, the spring N normallydraws it forward until it is stopped by the end of an arm S, which iscarried by a vertic'al plate pivoted on theinner sideof thesales-counter and is normally pressed away from the conveyer-chains by acoil-spring T,

j and when the latch-lever is released from the end of the arm S byswinging the same inward toward the conveyer and away from the wall ofthe counter the spring N is allowed to act and quickly opens the bottomof the receptacle and permits the article thereinto drop into thecorresponding chute J, where it will be accessible to the purchaserthrough the opening K. A plate S carries a stop S and an arm U, whichlatter extends horizontally above the stop-arm S and the adjacentcarrier chain and is provided at its extremity with an upturned fingerV, which comesv just opposite an opening in the side wall of thecounter. This openingleads intoa pocket or conduit V, which extends thelength of the counter and is located between the samplereceptacles X andthe main part of the counter. Adapted to move in this conduit V, I haveprovided a releasing device which may be employed for the entire seriesof articleholders. This device may be constructed as shown in Fig. 11,having a casing W, made to fit the conduit and to move therein. lever ispivoted within this casing in any suitable manner, with one endextending above to form a handle W, the other end being adapted to swinginward against. the finger V as the handle is manipulated. By this meansthe stop-arm S will be swung out of the path of the lach-lever Oand thearticle will be dumped from the holder 1. To make it more diflicultforthe finger V and other dumping mechanism to be tampered with, thecover to the conduit V is made in two plates overlapduit; This travelingreleasing device, which in this case consists of the caseW and pivotedhandle W, I make in different forms. One is coin-controlled in itsoperation, and another is .constructed so as to make a record of thesales-made; but in each case the device has two parts, one of which ismovable i n refererence to the other in order to effect a release of thearticle from the holder. At each side of the sales-counter I preferablylocate a glass-covered sample-exhibiting receptacle X, these receptaclescorrespond ing in number and position to the articleholders within thecounter, so that purchasers may select the articles desired by sample.

To-repleni sh'the supply of articles in the holders I, I provide each ofthe buckets H with a peculiar form of dumping device. Eachbucket isprovidediwith a swinging curved bottom Y, which is pivotally hung on theinnerwalls of the bucket at pivots Z by the upward-extending side platesor arms a, one of these arms beingconnected to the sides of the bucketsby. a coil-spring 6, this spring beingso arranged that it holds thebottom normally in its closed position when onzone side of the pivot Zand normally in its open position when on the other side of said pivot,as shown, respectively, in Figs. 2 and 3. One of the arms a is providedwith an extension 0, which when the bottom of the bucket is open willproject above the surface of the counter D in the store-room astheconveyer moves along under the top of the said counter, as shown mostclearly in Fig. 10. v

Depending from the bottom Y is a finger d, which carries a lateral pine, which when the bottom is closed and the pin is at its lowest point,as shown in Fig. 2, strikes against the inclined inner face'of leverOand first opens bottomY and then forces said lever out of its notch P byimpinging against the cam-face f and permits the lever to engage the endof the stop-arm S, as heretofore describedI. As will be observed, thispin will not engage the cam f" unless the lever is resting in notch P,nor

responding receptacle has been emptied and needs refilling; To close thebottoms L, the

attendant simply swings the levers back again i to their originalpositions, as isevident.

It will be obvious-that the conveyers may I be operated by manual poweror by suitable motive power and also that they may be moved continuouslyor intermittently. It will also be seen that in practice it will beconvenient and in some cases necessary to place corresponding numbers orother characters on the holders i'n'the counter and the levers in thesupply-roomin order that the attendant may be informed which holder inthesalescounter I has been emptied and may refill it with an ar ticle'ofthe same character. I

As hasbeen stated, when an article has been dumped fromone of theholders I the correspondinglever h is shifted. When the attendant in thesupply-room desires to refill the empty hold er, he first closes thebottom thereof by pulling back the'lever connected thereto to itsoriginal position, which act not only closes the bottom, but locks itclosed by allowing the leverOto'snap into its notch P. He next closes Ithe bottom of one of the buckets as it comes along underthe opening inthe table D, this being done by swinging back finger 0 or by'deisclosed, he drops into it the article, and then when the filled bucketreaches the empty holder in the sales-counter its pin 6 will strike lthe locked lever O, which will swing the bottom Y backward far enough tocarry its spring 6 beyond the center, so that said spring will thenact,as shown in Fig. 3, to hold the bottom open. When the bottom Y is .thuspushed up and back, the article will drop into the holder below. Then aspin 6 rides up the face of the lever 0 it passes into cam-groove f andforces lever 0 out ofnotch P and permits it to jump to the end of thestop-arm S. The pin 6 is prevented by lip Z from slipping off theenlargement Z on the lever before it passes into cam-groove i It will beobserved that where several holders I are empty at the same time theattendant must be careful to send out the article that belongs to thenearest holder first, as the first article to go out will be dumped inthe first IIS more or less idle.

empty holder, the second in the second empty holder, and so on until allthe holders are filled.

It will be seen that this invention is a majehine combining a carrierapparatus with an functions being performed in the order I have statedcompels the customer after ordering an article to wait until the goodscan'be prepared and sent to, him. Such a machine has a furtherdisadvantage in that with a reasonable amount of help at thesupply-station when there is a rush of business orders will be sentfaster than they can be filled, forcing the customers to wait stilllonger, and in the less active business hours the attendants will be Myinvention is intended, among other things, to obviate both of thesedisadvantages. The aim is to furnish instantaneous delivery to thecustomer and uniform employment to the attendant as nearly as possible,and I attain these objects by constructing my machine so that the threefunctions mentioned will be performed in a dilferent order and by addinganother element-namely, means for storing articles at the sales-stationready to be delivered as soon as the customer has made his selection.

The first function of the machine after the customer has indicated hisselection is to deliver the goods from the store already on deposit at asales-station, and the communication of an order to the supply-stationcomes after and as a result of the act of delivery to the customer, thegoods being sent to be in readiness for a subsequent purchaser.

If several articles of the same kind are on hand at the sales-counter,there may be a rush of custom at the business hours without exhaustingthe supply or causing the customers to wait, and a limited amount ofhelp at the supply-station may be kept uniformly busy.

I have described a machine especially adapted for vending goods; but IWish it to be understood that my invention applies to any machineadapted to perform substantially the functions herein described,substantially in the same order, to save labor and time, or for otherpurposes.

Having fully described my invention, what claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

1. In a carrier and delivery machine adapted to connect distant pointsas a supply-station with a delivery-station, a carrier apparatus betweensaid points, means at the delivery-station for holding articles forselection and dethe carrier apparatus.

livery, means for releasing an article selected from said holders, andmeans for communicating a notice to the supply-station, saidcommunication having a relation in each case to the release of anarticle from a holder at the delivery-station and the refilling of theholder with an article for subsequent selection, whereby delivery mayfollow selection without waiting for communication and transmission.

2. In a carrier and delivery machine adapted to connect distant pointsas a supply-station with a delivery-station, a carrier apparatus betweensaid points, means at the delivery station for holding articles forselection and delivery, means for releasing from said holders an articleselected, and means for communicating a notice to the supply-station forthe refilling of said article-holder, the communication of said noticeresulting from the act of selection and the operation of delivery,whereby a supply in advance may be kept at the delivery-station and theselector may receive the article selected Without awaiting the aetionofIn a carrier and delivery machine'adapted to connect distant points asa-supply-station with a deliveryrst'atiommeans at the deliverystationfor holding articles of merchandise to be released for delivery as theyare selected, means for releasing an article selected from said holders,means by which each of said holders may be refilled from thesupply-station with an article corresponding to the one released fromsaid holder.

4. In a carrier and delivery machine adapted to connect distant points,as a delivery-station with a supply-station, a carrier apparatus betweensaid points, a series of article-holders at the delivery-station adaptedto hold articles of different varieties, said holders being numbered orotherwise designated, each to correspond to the kind or variety ofarticle it is to hold, means for releasing each article from its holder,means related to the releasing of an article from its holder whichenables the holderin each case to be refilled by the carrier apparatuswith an article from the supply-station of a variety corresponding tothe number of said holder.

5. In a vending-machine the combination of the following parts: avending element, a carrier apparatus and a communicating device; saidcommunicating device being operated by the action of the vending elementand adapted to enable the vending element to be resupplied with articlesby the carrier apparatus; the vending element being provided with meansfor holding on deposit articles ready to be delivered as they areselected by a customer without his having to await the actionof thecarrier apparatus.

6. In a vending-machine aseries of articleholders adapted to holdarticles of merchandise ready to be delivered when selected by acustomer, a separate releasing-point related to each of said holders, aconduit or way connecting said points, and a releasing device adapted tomove along said way and to be employed for the release of the articlesfrom any of said holders.

7 In a vending-machine aseries of articleholders each adapted to hold anarticle to be released for delivery when selected; a separatereleasing-point related to each of said holders; a conduit or wayconnecting said points; and a releasing device adapted to move alongsaid way and to be employed for the release of the article from any ofsaid holders;

said releasing device having a plurality of parts one of which ismovable in reference to another of said parts to effect the release ofan article from a holder.

8. In a vending-machine a series of articleholders each of which isadapted to hold an article to be released for delivery when selected; aseparate releasing-point related to each of said holders; a releasingdevice adapted to operate unattached to any said holders and to engagewith either of said releasingpoints to release an article from anyholder in said series; said releasing device having a plurality of partsone of which is movable in reference to another of the said parts toeffeet the release of an article from a holder; whereby one releasingdevice may serve several holders and the device may be made to recordits own transactions, and for other purposes specified.

9. In a vending-machine aseries of holders each adapted to hold anarticle to be released for delivery when selected in combination with areleasing device adapted to release the article from each or either ofsaid holders in said series without being fixed to either of saidholders; said releasing device having a plurality of parts one ofwhichis movable in reference to another part to eifect the release of anarticle from a holder.

10. In a vending-machine a series of articleholders each adapted to holdan article to be released when selected; in combination with a releasingdevice common to the whole series of holders and adapted to operateunattached to any holder and to release from either holder the articletherein contained; said releasing device having a plurality of parts oneof which is movable in reference to another of said parts.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in the presence oftwo witnesses, this 31st day of August, 1903.

JUDSON B. HURD.

Witnesses;

R. W. BISHOP, (J. D. DAvIs.

